A few months before 74-year-old Leigh Ann Sabine died after battling brain cancer, she told her hairdresser that people were going to talk about her after she passed away because of “the body in the bag”. An alarming statement but one that mostly went ignored as a wild, silly made-up story, one of many that Leigh Ann was known for telling. But the true meaning of her words would be revealed about a month after her death when two of her best friends made a gruesome discovery.

It was well known that Leigh Ann had kept a fake medical skeleton - one that you might find on display at the doctor’s office - that she sometimes liked to place in her garden, move around her house or keep in her shed. She said it was a keepsake from her nursing days. Her friends thought it might be funny to use the medical skeleton as a prank, place it on one of their neighbour's doorstep and ring the doorbell to frighten them. They’d all laugh about it. Instead - they would be the ones frightened when they began to unwrap the medical skeleton and discover a perfectly mummified body. Now it was Leigh Ann who had the last laugh, as she had seemingly gotten away with murder.

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Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/19/woman-killed-husband-hid-body-never-caught-leigh-ann-sabine

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/20/for-years-a-woman-in-wales-said-she-murdered-husband-with-a-stone-garden-frog-no-one-believed-her-until-the-body-turned-up-in-the-garden/

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/aug/11/the-body-next-door-review-a-jaw-droppingly-addictive-true-crime-tale

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c628ez6zx0mo

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-perfect-murder-leigh-ann-sabines-daughter-speaks-out-about-her-lost-childhood/GSFYUVG7TCAOHRSLU3W35Q6SDA/

We often think of DNA as one of the most solid, fool-proof pieces of evidence in a crime investigation, but our story tonight shows how that isn’t at all true. A female German serial killer, dubbed “the Phantom of Heilbronn” - or the woman without a face, was believed to be responsible for a slew of crimes across the country, including six murders. The hunt to find this evil monster made international headlines as police tried to identify the killer before they struck again. The Phantom of Heilbronn was said to have committed various offences, including theft, which puzzled the police. It’s not often a single criminal would have such a wide range of offences - so it was difficult to build a profile around who their suspect might be. Still, the DNA showed that these crimes were all linked by DNA evidence connected to one individual. Or so they thought. You can only imagine the shock and horror when it was learned that the woman this DNA belonged to - didn’t even exist.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/09/germany-serial-killer

https://time.com/archive/6946145/germanys-phantom-serial-killer-a-dna-blunder/

https://www.nature.com/articles/543589b

https://www.iso.org/news/2016/07/Ref2094.html

https://www.smh.com.au/world/woman-without-a-face-leaves-german-police-in-the-dark-20081117-68dq.html

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Serial Napper will be taking a hiatus over the summer. Thank you for your support.

Before dawn break, on New Year's Day, 1998, 21-year-old Ben Smart and 17-year-old Olivia Hope were looking for a place to crash after spending the evening celebrating with other partygoers in the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand. They were last seen getting out of a water taxi and boarding a yacht after a strange man offered them a place to sleep off the champagne on board his boat. Not the greatest of decisions, but they needed a place to sleep because other partygoers had taken the place they had originally booked. They would never be seen again - and their bodies and belongings have never been found.

What followed was a five-month-long investigation into Scott Watson, who the police believed was the strange man who had offered up his yacht. However, the investigation was rife with accusations of prejudice and police incompetence, while Scott Watson maintained his innocence. This was a case based solely on circumstantial evidence and statements given by jailhouse informants - highly controversial particularly in a high-profile double-murder case like this one.

Yet it was enough to convict Scott and sentence him to life behind bars, which he has spent the last 26 years fighting.

So dim the lights, put your phone down and listen to the story of Scott Watson, who believes the case against him was a mistrial of justice and just finished his last bid for freedom, full of shocking accusations against the people who are supposed to protect us.

Sources:

https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/ben-and-olivia-search-for-truth-2002

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/519697/decision-on-scott-watson-appeal-could-take-months-judge

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/419995/ben-smart-olivia-hope-and-scott-watson-a-timeline

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/485010/hope-smart-murders-sounds-witness-guy-wallace-s-death-was-self-inflicted-coroner-rules

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/paul-henry-on-the-ben-smart-olivia-hope-murder-case-scott-watson-and-my-fears-for-justice-our-collective-shame/MNXARCQ6ZJCCRGXMD6EVCJYRUM/

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/claim-mystery-ketch-identified

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It was the early evening hours of Sunday, April 19, 2015. Vincent Viafore and his fiancee Angelika Graswald were trying to enjoy a kayaking adventure in the Hudson River, but the water was cold and choppy, and they were not adequately prepared for the conditions. For one - Vincent wasn’t wearing a life vest and his kayak was missing a drain plug. Disaster struck as they tried to cross the river, leaving from Bannermans Island and heading towards Plum Point Park. Vincent’s kayak started to take in water, eventually capsizing, leaving him to drown in the choppy water. Angelika called 911 on her cell phone from her kayak, but by the time emergency services arrived, it was far too late to save her fiancee. His body wouldn’t be recovered from the water until a month later.

When Angelika was questioned about how things had taken such a tragic turn, she made several statements that raised the alarm and had detectives wondering whether this was truly an accident or if she had planned his murder. Then there was the detail about the missing drain plug, which she admitted to removing from his kayak herself, and witnesses who claimed they saw her pull Vincent’s paddle away from him intentionally keeping him in the water. Her motive? A $550,000 life insurance policy, according to investigators.

So dim the lights, put your phone down and listen to the story of Angelika Graswald, dubbed the “kayak killer” by the media - who some believe was treated unfairly because she was a woman. In contrast, others think she got away with the perfect murder.

Sources:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/york-kayak-murder-case-timeline-events-mysterious-death-34973210

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL5kTAnwFk8

https://www.elle.com/life-love/a26453558/angelika-graswald-kayak-killer-profile/

https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2018/02/28/vincent-viafore-angelika-graswald/354728002/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kayak-murder-case-angelika-graswald-interrogation-video-raises-key-questions-in-boyfriends-death/

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The date was March 6th, 1984, the night before Mardi Gras. Hailing from New Orleans, The Brown family, which included parents Johnnie Mae and Aubrey Brown and their 10 children, spent the evening getting ready to celebrate. Excitement was in the air in anticipation of the music, food and floats that they were going to be able to enjoy. The kids were put down to bed early that night so that they would be well-rested for the festivities the next day. And then, around 3 am when the house was quiet and still, tragedy struck. Flames ripped through the single-level family home, as Johnnie Mae attempted to get all of her babies out safely while her husband Aubrey Brown tried to throw buckets of water on the growing fire.

As the family stood on the front lawn, watching firefighters attempt to put out the blaze, they noted that three of the children were unaccounted for. Tragically, once the flames were extinguished, the bodies of two-year-old Kevin and four-year-old Aubrey Junior would be recovered, but where was three-year-old sister Ramona? Firefighters would search the burned remains of the house looking for any signs of the toddler, but there were none. It was puzzling - but even more so when Ramona’s six-year-old sister told her parents a story almost too shocking to be true. Older sister, Simona, claimed that that Ramona had made it out of the house and she saw her get into a car with a couple who had stopped in the street to offer help. After sharing this story, Simona stopped talking for years.

It wasn’t until 2018 when Simona reported what she had seen to the police and an active missing persons investigation began.

Sources:

https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2024/after-the-fire-ramona-brown-mystery

https://charleyproject.org/case/ramona-lynn-brown

https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/investigations/katie-moore/the-search-for-ramona-brown-the-fire/289-437896478

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iga01FJPZTQ

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/national/new-orleans-probes-year-old-disappearance-toddler-after-fatal-house-fire/h313VPPWjqLmkCdFw4Mk0K/

https://www.scribd.com/document/347742211/Supplemental-Police-Report-for-Ramona-Brown-investigation

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One of the first things I noticed when I moved to Tokyo was the smiling faces of J-Pop idols posted everywhere - large billboards, moving trucks, subway cars. Japan has the second largest music market in the world, mostly due to the rising popularity of J-Pop, with millions of fans in Japan and all around the world.

One man, known as Johnny Kitagawa, considered the grandfather of J-pop, is responsible for creating idols out of hundreds of young boys who dreamed of being famous. But few know the dark secrets this man, his company and the Japanese media have kept hidden for decades. Johnny Kitagawa allegedly abused hundreds of pre-teen and teen boys who wanted nothing more than to become a J-Pop star. The stories of sexual abuse were kept quiet by many, due to greed, shame, a culture that has denied that males can be raped and the making of a legend out of a monster.

Only in his death has the truth of Johnny Kitagawa and his company “Johnny & Associates” finally come to light.

So dim the lights, put your phone down and listen to the story of how one of Japan’s most beloved and celebrated predators was enabled to abuse hundreds of boys for almost 60 years, while the media and law enforcement looked the other way.

Sources:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8j6ho7

https://starto.fandom.com/wiki/Junior

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2023/05/18/commentary/japan-commentary/johnnys-media/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64837855

https://web.archive.org/web/20130614000713/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/aug/21/popandrock3

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68624670

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It was the very early morning of March 9, 2019 - around 3:30 am, before the sun came up. 25-year-old Aubrey Dameron walked into the living room and told her mother and brother that she was off to meet a friend. She doesn’t specify who this friend is - but she leaves home without her purse or her anti-seizure medication, which she is supposed to carry with her at all times as she suffers from epilepsy. She wouldn’t return home and after a few days of no contact with her family - they reported her missing to the police.

Aubrey is a high-risk victim - she is a beautiful, proud Cherokee woman living through a time when violence against Indigenous women is at an all-time high. She is also transgendered and identifies as Two-Spirit, a Native American term that describes a person who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit.

There are a lot of suspicious circumstances surrounding Aubrey’s disappearance - including a bloody sock found near her home, a ransom call and a confession- and her family believes she might be the victim of a hate crime.

This is the story of Aubrey Dameron and her family's fight for the truth.

If you know anything about Aubrey's disappearance, call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or go online at https://tips.fbi.gov/ - or call the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service at 918-207-3800.

Sources:

https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/dateline-missing-america-podcast-covers-2019-disappearance-aubrey-dameron-grove-n1297835

https://uncovered.com/cases/aubrey-dameron

https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=f8290c1d-17f6-41fd-a59b-faab0264b43d

https://www.facebook.com/MissingAubreyDameron/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2qzvZIGiBA

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